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- Theresa May
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- 🇬🇧 United Kingdom
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Last reviewed: Aug 5, 2026 · How we verify facts
Biography
a politician, from United Kingdom.
Theresa Mary May, Baroness May of Maidenhead (; née Brasier; born 1 October 1956), is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2016 to 2019. She previously served as Home Secretary from 2010 to 2016. She was Member of Parliament (MP) for Maidenhead from 1997 to 2024, and has been a member of the House of Lords since August 2024.
May was the second female British prime minister, after Margaret Thatcher, and the first woman to have held two of the Great Offices of State. May is a one-nation conservative. May grew up in Oxfordshire and attended St Hugh's College, Oxford. After graduating in 1977, she worked at the Bank of England and the Association for Payment Clearing Services. She also served as a councillor on Merton London Borough Council.
After two unsuccessful attempts to be elected to the House of Commons, she was elected MP for Maidenhead at the 1997 general election. From 1999 to 2010, May held several roles in shadow cabinets and was Chairman of the Conservative Party from 2002 to 2003. Following the formation of the coalition government after the 2010 general election, May was appointed home secretary and minister for women and equalities, giving up the latter role in 2012.
Reappointed after the Conservatives won the 2015 general election, she became the longest-serving home secretary in more than 60 years. During her tenure as home secretary, she pursued reform of the Police Federation, implemented a harder line on drugs policy and further restricted immigration. She oversaw the introduction of elected police and crime commissioners, the deportation of Abu Qatada and the creation of the College of Policing and the National Crime Agency.
Although she supported the Remain campaign, May supported Brexit following the outcome of the 2016 referendum. She was elected and appointed prime minister unopposed, succeeding David Cameron. As prime minister, May began the process of withdrawing the UK from the EU, triggering Article 50 in March 2017. In April, she announced a snap general election, with the aim of strengthening her hand in Brexit negotiations and highlighting her "strong and stable" leadership.
This resulted in a hung parliament with the number of Conservative seats reduced to 317 from 330, despite the highest vote share since 1983 and the largest increase in electoral support enjoyed by a governing party since 1832. The loss of an overall majority prompted her to enter a confidence-and-supply arrangement with the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP).
Following the 2017 election, May's premiership continued to be dominated by Brexit, in particular by her government's negotiations with the EU, adhering to the Chequers plan, which led to a draft Brexit withdrawal agreement. Other events that occurred during May's premiership included terrorist attacks in Westminster, the Manchester Arena and London Bridge, and the Grenfell Tower fire and Windrush scandal. Her governmen
Political Career
Party Affiliation
Positions Held
member of the House of Lords
Government
Member of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom
Government
member of the 58th Parliament of the United Kingdom
Government
member of the 57th Parliament of the United Kingdom
Government
First Lord of the Treasury
Government
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
Government
Minister for the Civil Service
Government
Leader of the Conservative Party
Government
member of the 56th Parliament of the United Kingdom
Government
Minister for Women and Equalities
Government
Minister for Women and Equalities
Government
Minister for Women and Equalities
Government
Minister for Women and Equalities
Government
Home Secretary
Government
member of the 55th Parliament of the United Kingdom
Government
Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
Government
Shadow Secretary of State for Women and Equalities
Government
Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
Government
Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
Government
member of the 54th Parliament of the United Kingdom
Government
Frequently Asked Questions
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